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Vacations to America
All holidays on this website are sold subject to the following conditions:
When you make a booking you guarantee that you have the authority to accept and do accept on behalf of your party the terms of these booking conditions. A contract will exist as soon as we issue our confirmation invoice. This contract is made on the terms of these booking conditions, which are governed by English Law, and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. Your contract is with The Vacations Group Limited trading as Vacations to America.
We provide full financial protection for all our holidays including package holidays and accommodation only.
When you buy an ATOL protected flight or flight inclusive holiday from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong. We, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL Certificate, will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where neither we nor the supplier are able to do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable). If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us, the travel agent (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims may be re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme. Our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number is 2976.
When you buy a package holiday that doesn’t include a flight or if you buy accommodation only, protection is provided by way of a bond held by the Association of British Travel Agents
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are adequately insured. We strongly recommend that you take out insurance which should include cover against the cost of cancellation by you and assistance (including repatriation) in the event of accident or illness.
If, after our confirmation invoice has been issued, you wish to change your travel arrangements in any way, for example your chosen departure date or accommodation, we will do our utmost to make these changes but it may not always be possible. Any request for changes to be made must be in writing from the person who made the booking or your travel agent. You will be asked to pay an administration charge of £25 per person, and any further cost we incur in making this alteration. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible. Note: Certain travel arrangements may not be changeable after a reservation has been made and any alteration request could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.
If you wish to cancel your holiday, written notification must be given to us by the person who signed the booking form. The date of cancellation will be the date we receive this written notice. In the event of cancellation by you no insurance premiums paid will be refunded and the following cancellation charges will be payable by you:
Days before departure notice is received 63+ 43-63 29-42 15-28 0-14
Cancellation fee % of total holiday price Deposit 30% 60% 90% 100%
Occasionally, we may have to make changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most of these changes will be minor and we will advise you or your travel agent of them at the earliest possible date. We also reserve the right in any circumstances to cancel your travel arrangements. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular travel arrangement is not reached, we may have to cancel it. However, we will not cancel your travel arrangements after the holiday price has become due or when the balance has been paid, whichever is the latter, except for reasons of force majeure or failure by you to pay the final balance. If we are unable to provide the booked travel arrangements, you can either have a refund of all monies paid or accept an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us, if available. If it is necessary to cancel your travel arrangements, we will pay to you compensation as set out in this clause. In accordance with EU Regulation 2111/2005 we are required to advise you of the actual carrier operating your flight/connecting flight/transfer. This will be shown on your Confirmation invoice. Any changes to the actual airline will be notified to you as soon as possible and in all cases at check-in or at the boarding gate. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other examples of minor changes include alteration of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, changes to aircraft type, change of accommodation to another of the same
standard. If we make a major change to your holiday, we will inform you or your travel agent as soon as reasonably possible if there is time before your departure. You will have the choice of either accepting the change of arrangements, accepting an offer of alternative travel arrangements of comparable standard from us if available, or cancelling your booked holiday and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. In all cases, except where the major change arises due to reasons of force majeure, or for accommodation only bookings, we will pay compensation of £10 per person if notified to you or your travel agent within 42 days of departure or £25 if within 28 days. Force Majeure: We will not pay you compensation if we have to cancel or change your travel arrangements in any way because of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control. These can include, for example, war, riot, industrial dispute, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions, epidemics and pandemics, unavoidable technical problems with transport.
In the unlikely event of there being something not to your liking whilst on holiday this must be notified to our local representative in order that the problem may be resolved amicably and as quickly as possible. If any such problem is unable to be resolved satisfactorily this must be notified immediately to us (an international free-phone number is provided with your travel documents). If we are unable to resolve the problem you must write to us within 28 days of your return. No action can be taken or liability accepted for complaints receved after thsi period. It is unlikely that you will have a complaint that cannot be settled amicably between us. However, disputes arising out of, or in connection with this contract which cannot be amicably settled may be referred to arbitration under a special scheme which, though devised by arrangement with ABTA is administered quite independently by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The scheme (details on request) provides for a simple and inexpensive method of arbitration on documents alone with restricted liability on the client in respect of costs. Alternatively AITO’s Independent Dispute Settlement Service (again details on request) may be called upon by either side to bring the matter to a speedy and amicable solution. Whichever option you choose, neither scheme applies to claims for an amount greater than £5,000 per person/£25,000 per booking form, nor to claims which are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness or the consequences of such injury or illness. Both the schemes have a time limit of 9 months from the return date of your holiday.
We will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel arrangements and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall. Our liability, except in cases involving death, injury or illness, shall be limited to a maximum of two times the cost of your travel arrangements. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to (a) The contractual terms of the companies that provide the transportation for your travel arrangements. These terms are incorporated into this contract; and (b) Any relevant international convention, for example the Montreal Convention in respect of travel by air, the Athens Convention in respect of travel by sea, the Berne Convention in respect of travel by rail and the Paris Convention in respect of the provision of accommodation, which limit the amount of compensation that you can claim for death, injury, delay to passengers and loss, damage and delay to luggage. We are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitation of compensation contained in these or any conventions. You can ask for copies of the transport companies' contractual terms, or the international conventions, from our offices. Under EU law (Regulation 261/2004) you have rights in some circumstances to refunds and/or compensation from your airline in cases of denied boarding, cancellation or delay to flights. Full details of these rights will be publicised at EU airports and will also be available from airlines. However reimbursement in such cases will not automatically entitle you to a refund of your holiday cost from us. Your right to a refund and/or compensation from us is set out in clause 7. If any payments to you are due from us, any payment made to you by the airline will be deducted from this amount. NB this clause does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on holiday.
If the contract we have with you is not performed or is improperly performed as a result of failures attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services, or as a result of failures due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which we or our suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall, and you suffer an injury or other material loss, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is reasonable in the circumstances.
Your specific passport and visa requirements, and other immigration requirements are your responsibility and you should confirm these with the relevant Embassies and/or Consulates. We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel because you have not complied with any passport, visa or immigration requirements.
Excursions or other tours that you may choose to book or pay for whilst you are on holiday are not part of your package holiday provided by us. For any excursion or other tour that you book, your contract will be with the operator of the excursion or tour and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the excursion or tour or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the operator.
For self-catering accommodation a security and telephone deposit of up to £500 may be required. Any charges arising from any long distance telephone charges, excess cleaning costs, excess electricity, replacement of lost keys and repairs for damage to a property or any of its contents will be deducted from the deposit. This deposit will be refunded within 60 days of the departure date. At most locations a credit card imprint will also be required locally.
The FCO may have issued information about your holiday destination. You can check this information on the Internet under the address www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo or you can contact the ABTA Information Line on 0901 201 5050 (calls are charged at 50p a minute).
In order to process your booking and to ensure that your travel arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements, we need to use the information you provide such as name, address, any special needs/dietary requirements etc. We take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We must pass the information on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements such as airlines, hotels, transport companies etc. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law. If you make a booking with us, we will process your personal details in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.